The peat-fire flame : folk-tales and traditions of the Highlands & Islands

it !
THE PEAT-FIRE FLAME
" said the beggar to the joiner on the following
morning.
'' Why that ? " enquired the joiner.
" Well, last night," continued the beggar, " I saw the
ghost of the dead man trying to get into it, and he couldn't."
The joiner laughed at the vagrant, to whom he and his
wife had given a night's roofing; but, as a matter of interest,
he thought he would just measure the corpse again, and
compare its length with that of the empty coffin. And, sure
enough, as the beggar had indicated, the coffin had to be
enlarged.
A Ghost Story from the Isle of Skye.
In the early years of the nineteenth century a Lowland
farmer rented a sheep-run in the Isle of Skye; and what
time he was not tending his sheep, he was trying to laugh
the Gaelic folk out of its belief in ghosts. " It is all very
well for you," said the Gaelic folk, " to be laughing at us
because of our belief in ghosts ; but, if you care to spend a
night in the deserted Big House over there, you will see
for yourself that ghosts there are for certain."
The Lowland farmer accepted the challenge. That very
night he went across to the Big House, and made himself
as comfortable as he could in the dining-room. He lit a big
fire for company, locked all the doors, snibbed all the
windows, and then sat down to read an old newspaper. At
midnight a young and beautiful lady stood before him, as
if she had come from nowhere.
" Who are you? " asked the Lowland farmer.
" I am the ghost ! " said the lady.
" You're a liar ! " said the Lowland, the very Lowland,
farmer.
" There's no such thing as ghosts."
" More's the pity for you," said the lady, " for I came
here specially to show you where a chest of gold is hidden."
" Splendid ! " said the Lowland, the very Lowland,
farmer. " Let us go at once, and find the chest."
" That cannot be," said the lady. " Seeing there are no
ghosts, how can a ghost show you the hidden treasure ? "
And she vanished.
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